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Hi!
>I don’t know why she wants to just keep zooming around like we’re post turning. I just can’t seem to connect for the front cross between the barrels! I feel like we did this better months ago b and now she has so many questions!>
I think she has developed more speed and more value for the barrels – add in crispy fall weather where it is not 100 degrees AND a fun toy… and you’ve got a pup that is moving faster, making decisions sooner, with stronger commitment. This is GREAT, actually!! And good job rewarding her even when you were like “wait, what just happened there” LOL
So why was it going sideways on some of the reps? Connection 🙂 When you showed her very clear connection then maintained it until she committed to the new side before sending her to the next barrel: nailed it!
You can see that at :07 – lovely connection and you made sure she got to the new side before sending. You kept the dog-side arm low and back to her nose (this is important!) and made a pretty direct eye contact. She could see it easily and get to the new side. Then after she was coming to the new side, you sent to the next barrel. Super!
The toy was out of the way at :07- she was not distracted by it, but when your arm was at your side and holding the toy, that all blocked her view of your connection so she did not see the side change cues.
On the reps where she did not make it to the new side and kept going like a post turn or spin: you were looking further forward (not as directly back to her) and your arm was more at your side (like at :34) so she never saw the connection or side change info.
At :38 you had the same fantastic connection you had at :07! Lovely! So why did she *not* make the side change? It was because you sent her to the next barrel before she actually made the side change, so she stayed on the original side. The same thing happened at 1:30 when you started her: she had not yet connected to the right side so when you sent her, she didn’t see the side info and when to your left sided (her right turn) and zipped around the barrel.
With connection, you might be able to see her but she really needs to see the full connection back to her at the stage.
When you switched to food and slowed your motion down a tiny bit, you were able to make a much clearer connection and get the side changes (like at :59 and 1:14).
I put together some visuals for you of when it went right and when it went wrong! They are here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sNDUWoVIOCAtgpPYFw2wxaZK_LDv80jcebmbmTYqrbY/edit?usp=sharing
So for now, take the extra heartbeat to make that big connection to get the new side – then send her to the next barrel.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Lots of good objects in the shpile here 🙂
Be sure to her wild before starting this game – you can do it with a toy, or you can have her chase you around for treats.
>Still struggling a bit with moving objects….>
Yes, she definitely thought the movement of the board was suspicious and that bubbled over into all of the objects, because the whole focus became about it (you wanted her to touch it, she wanted to avoid it). Luring her with food got her to touch it because she loves food, but I don’t think she was loving the tippy board. So to get the mechanics in high arousal and get her happier with the board movement, here are 2 ways to approach it:
– you can create a shpile that has NO tippy board. Inflatables and random planks and other things are perfect! This is more of what you did in the 2nd half of the video. Then after getting her wild, let her offer. You were a little early with the cookie tosses, so she was waiting for cookies to fall and not offering getting on the stuff.
– to incorporate the tippy board and movement but reduce the movement a lot: the tippy board can be in the pile but you can prop it up with towels, shoes, etc so it moves only about half an inch. The goal is for her to say “ah, this is easy and not scary at all!”
And if half inch is too much movement, then you can put ore stuff under it to reduce the movement even more. As she grows to love it (and is less suspicious of it LOL) you can reduce the support stuff under it so there is more and more movement. You will know when she is ready for that because she will dive on it LOL!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>You videos look like you are using your opposite arm, not the dog side arm>
Which arm to use is handler preference. I was using the opposite arm (2 arms, actually) at the beginning of the cue. You were starting the cue with the dog-side arm and finishing it with the opposite arm, which is also a good way to do it! As we add more speed and challenge, you can see what you & she feel comfy with and how well she can see it.
She was turning away really well, so you can add the advanced level which draws her past her prop then turns her away to it 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
He was dong well with the backing up here too!
On the non-moving plank: he was backing up into a 2o-2o position which is great! You can release him to re-start each rep closer to you, so he adds more steps backing up to get to his position. You can scoot further and further away from the board to get more distance too.
He did well with the travel plank indoors too – he is definitely locked into the 2o2o position so you can add more distance to find the position there too. He didn’t seem to mind at all that it was a bit unstable with the inflatable under the other end! Do you have a yoga mat or something to put under it, so the travel plank doesn’t slide around under him (especially as he releases off of it). That way he won’t have a leg slip awkwardly as he gets on or off.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Ugh, time 3 trying to send this.. No comments because now I’m frustrated.>
That is super frustrating! Were you getting an error message?
The barrel wraps went really well! He had no trouble with the dish and toy on the ground, and was able to send to the barrel sideways. Smooth and fast!
You did a bit of turn and burn too – his commitment is strong but he definitely wants the support of your dog-side leg on the send to the barrel. You can see that at 2:12, where your dog-side leg stayed back and he questioned whether he should go to the barrel or not.
For the barrel games: you can move on to the rocking horse games! That will be fun and allow you to keep building on the commitment you have here.
Rear crosses on the prop went great! He turned correctly in both directions: SUPER! Your timing was good, and your timing was good because you put lots of value on driving ahead to the prop, so you could get to the new side with no problem.
He is also having less trouble finding treats in the grass when the game is continuing 🙂 He still sniffs around when you are transitioning to the next game, so you can send him to a station or you can call him back quickly to a toyto avoid that.
Lap turns were pretty perfect 🙂 Lovely mechanics! And he has a strong balance between handler focus and going to the prop. When you get back from your week away, you can move this concept forward into the threadle wrap foundations posted yesterday.
The out cue is off to a great start – he did well sticking with you when you cued the straight line and going to the out when cued. I think his questions about the ‘out’ towards the end were because you were not moving to get the cue understanding started. That is fine, we can add movement because it is indeed a moving cue. ,Your line of motion for the out and the handler focus is the same, and the upper body/out cue is what makes the difference.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hello!
>Are you thinking about running across a Cato board when near agility?>
Yes, or position changes on it (sit to stand, stand to sit, etc).
You can even use this back-up skill – the video is looking great! Very deliberate, intentional stepping backwards onto the platform! Very proud of her! The platform helps her be straight – you can see her curving a little (like at :30). But you can also encourage backing up straight by alternating which hand you deliver the reward from. When we deliver from one hand all the time (your right hand here), the dogs will lock onto the hand and back up away from it… which ends up being on a slightly curved line. If you feed from your left hand half the time as well, she is likely to be more straight because she won’t lock onto one hand over the other.The next step is to just add a little more distance each time. This behavior is going well! And you can also get a wobble board involved, so there is a tiny bit of movement as she steps onto it.
> I think there’s a fun match this weekend about 30 minutes from me.>
Ooh perfect! That can be a fun opportunity to hang out and do little things!
>Also, what are you thoughts on an opt out station being present? I’ve seen it in other classes where you leave out a snuffle mat on a raised item like a small chair. The dog can choose to go to the snuffle if they need a moment. I’ve tried it with Sprite occasionally and it surprises me sometimes when she decides she needs a break. It’s not often, but I like the idea in general.>
Many feelings 🙂 and it is definitely thought-provoking, in terms of analyzing it (similar to taking a close look at the dopamine box trend). Yes, considering the welfare of the dog and the dog’s need to decompress is awesome! And it is a positive, happy thing in a world where people lean into negatives so easily. But it is really tricky to have an snuffle mat nearby as an ‘opt out’ – there are a lot of things going on with that, that fall into the ‘it might not be training what people thing it is training’ category 🙂 I can give you the complete list (so far) if you are interested. I think it is more important to give the dog the play or decompression *before* they leave a session or feel the need to opt out.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
It has been chilly here!! I am glad you are enjoying it 🙂 And yes, it is really nice to roam around farmland in cool weather, you should totally move to the region 🤣😁🤣
Well, adding more motion to the parallel path game was certainly easy and looks like FUN! Driving ahead of you? No problem. Lateral distance? No problem. Driving ahead AND lateral distance? Also no problem 🙂 SUPER! We will be building on all of this very soon.
He had one miss (rep starting at :31) and what happened there was he was looking at you taking the cookie out of your pocket and put it into your throwing hand, while you started to move. That kept his attention for a few extra steps and then by the time he looked for the jump, he was past it.
So it is partially a small mechanics error (moving the reward around while also cueing the behavior). But it was a nice bit of distraction training and he did not make the mistake again (one error can be just as useful for the dog as a success can). And it was a nice bit of resilience for him too: “hmmm why didn’t I get the reward” followed by the bounce back to engagement followed by lots more success.
Great job here! Safe travels home!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I’ll give her a day or two and then try the bowl. Toy on the ground might be hard for her. >
I think solidifying the concept with the bowl will make it easier to get the toy on the ground. And this might sound strange but a lot of dogs can generalize the concept if we put the toy in the bowl, when introducing the toy. The bowl is a context cue, so it might make it easier for her to have the toy on the ground.
Reese did super well with the shpile 🙂 It looked pretty easy for her – she was aroused (tugging, Sprite singing a little LOL) but was still quite good at offering lovely mechanics and balance on the pile of stuff. This is one of the things I like about dog that think through a puzzle rather than fling themselves at it LOL! We tend to see better mechanics as they are learning proprioception, and that translates to the grown-up sports really well 🙂
This game can go into the training rotation in that you try different variations of the pile at home, as well as different variations of arousal. Tugging is a good one of course. You can also let her watch Sprite have a turn, then Reese has a turn (that will be more stimulating!). This is one of the games that I play when the dog is hungry for their meal (and the meal is the reward). That is a different arousal level too (baseline reward arousal).
And if you are near agility (class or trial) – you can do simple proprioception on a plank or disc or small setup when agility is nearby: that is a good brain prep for being able to use her mechanics properly even in a very stimulating environment. Keep me posted on how she does and if she has any struggles with it – there were no struggles here. Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>would it make any sense at all to try the wobble board upside down??>
Yes, if she can fit on it pretty easily, it will totally work.
Both of the strike a pose sessions went really well.
Shaking the hand target helps as the reward gets to the ground – you can move the hand/arm up and down a bit more when the toy is visible so she can really lock onto it.Overall, she was getting the in-then-out really well by the end of both sessions. Yay! For the food bowl, you can move on to the concept transfer posted last week! The next step with the toy is to get it to the ground, then try the concept transfer.
At this stage, she might begin to side-swipe the hand target rather than hit it directly and that is perfectly fine 🙂 That means she is understanding in-then-out and setting her line appropriately. And it helps us fade out the hand target but maintain the understanding of the cue.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Tolerates kids but not keen on interacting with strangers.>
Are you describing Drift here, or describing me? LOL!! Strangers are weird, he doesn’t have to interact with them.
He was great with his patterns in the aisle – sooooo much hard stuff in the environment but he was like “whatever, let’s do patterns”. His body language seemed very happy and relaxed. Super!
Stay video 1 (home): You are making good progress! One thing I notice is that he is offering a lot of dancing after getting into the sit – that might be because you are facing him and he is interpreting it as “offer more”. So you can cue the sit more at your side (not a formal line up, but not facing him as much) and start to reward as you move away. So you are moving away slowly but throwing the reward back early and often. That can solidify the sit position because he won’t confuse it with a shaping session where you would face him and wait for more offering.
The stay on the road went really well! You were moving away almost immediately here so he stopped offering other stuff in favor of holding position. SUPER! He couldn’t let you do tooooo many steps away yet but it is definitely good progress.
He was on fire for his foot target! Love it! He was stronger driving away on your right side at first but perhaps that was because the target was a bit hidden behind the stairs? He got it really nicely soon after the start and was sending from pretty far away.
The rear crosses were handle cue questions 🙂 I think yo were trying to send with your arm then get to the next side, but the send made you late in getting visible on the new side. So to smooth out the rear crosses, start as far back as possible, and start right next to him. Do a couple parallel path moments and when he is driving ahead of you easily (without an arm send), you will be able to switch sides and be visible on the new side before he arrives at the prop. That should get the RCs smooth like everything else.
And you can play with the other prop games too, I think they will be super easy for him!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The SC adventure looks like it is so fun! Hopefully you are not freezing – I had to turn on the heat here LOL! And he is a great traveler too.
He caught onto the parallel path pretty immediately and was driving way ahead. SUPER!!!This is especially lovely considering he was in a brand new place. And click/treat to you for getting your marker and reward throw in before he looks back at you. Excellent mechanics!
Since this went really well, a couple of options to add, to keep things exciting 🙂
– You can add more of your motion. Having you walk was the perfect start and turned out to be VERY easy. Cool! Now you can jog, and build up to running. Handler motion can be a distraction, so it will be a nice challenge to see if he can find the line with more motion. I am guessing he will do really well.
– You can also change your position: when he is going to get the reward, you can get moving back up the line so you are ahead of him when he is ready for the next rep. That is hard sometimes but I think he can do it as long as you stay connected back to him. And you can also move yourself further over laterally each time: how much distance away can he find it?And since he is good about bringing the toy back, you can add a toy as a reward too. It won’t exactly be as clean of a loop due to potential toy parties 🤣 but it increases arousal in a good way and help solidify the skill in a the more agility-like arousal state.
Great job! Safe travels home!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>So how do I play with the tunnels in that case?>
You can use a baby tunnel indoors where she is more likely to bring the toy back. Or, since they are pretty simple for dogs to learn, you can move tunnel training down on the priority list and train more retrieving outdoors like you described below, before going back to the tunnels.
>not sure what game(s) I could play that don’t and are still fast and fun?>
The proprioception games (like the shpile) are fast & fun, and use a different part of the brain. All of the resilience games use different parts of the brain as well. Parallel path games also don’t have much impulse control 🙂 and the rear cross game (especially the alternate rear cross game) doesn’t have impulse control needed. And I think the rocking horse game won’t require much impulse control from her.
Looking at the video:
She is definitely offering more backing up! Yay! And the backing up is looking pretty balanced with distinct steps. She does indeed seem ready for more distance.I am not sure she is using the mat as a destination – it might be incidental. You can test that theory by trying a couple of reps without the mat there at all – does she offer the same behavior? If not, then yes she is using the mat.
If she does offer the backing up without the mat, the goal shifts slightly to think about getting her to back up onto something that moves. To get that, you can use a taller mat for her to step back up onto – something only as tall as maybe half the length of your thumb 🙂 That will be more salient and you can start her on the mat with all 4 feet, first getting her to step her front feet back on then luring all 4 feet off so she offers back feet on it. That will make it easier to switch to something that does move (eventually).
We don’t need the mat to get backing up on the flat – that is progressing nicely! So it will be useful for adding movement.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I guess I have always used lap turns for U turns, and tandems for more weird 90 degree turns. >
Lap turns totally work for U-turns, but course design lately has made it really hard for us to be in lap turn position in time to get it done. The tandems work and the threadle wrap is currently a hot topic (we start training those tomorrow :))
The tandems are actually very flexible tools in what type of line they create – yes, we can get the U-turns and also the 90-degree turns you mentioned, as well as on front or back of the jump.
Looks like he had a fun training day!! He was very engaged and focused even with new a new person there!
For the parallel line:
He seemed to have no questions about finding the line from a stay and with a toy lure. It was a bit of lead out practice! For next steps, we want him to find the line when you are both in motion (think of it as mid-course) You can take placed toy, and both of you will be moving (starting from a stay on the board is fine if cookies toss starts will cause delays in finding the treats outside). That allows him to choose the jump setup with you in motion (this should be the easy part). The harder part is getting you connected from anywhere, and getting the marker/reward throw happening before he looks back at you. That will mean we shift the emphasize now to marking commitment to the jump (when you see the choice to run to it) rather than arrival at the jump. Marking commitment will allow you to get the reward thrown ahead before he looks at you, which is a great timing skill for us humans 🙂
Serps:
He did well here too! Nice job with the jump and also when you added the bowl. He had very few questions. Yay!
2 adjustments to the setup:
– Be sure to add the slice position to the challenge – that is often harder for herding dogs than the angles. On all the positions, you can be more between the uprights Most of you was outside the wing, and for now at least half of you should be visible between t he uprights (I think of it as putting my belly button o the wing :)) That way you won’t have to lean back at all. And on the harder angles, you can also look at the target hand as you release him as that will also help draw him to the serp (especially when the bowl is on the ground :))
– you can be a lot closer to the jump (close enough to reach out and touch it with a slightly bent arm). That gets him turning before he gets to the jump and not when landing afterThe next step for this would be a toy on the ground, but that is a low priority for now 🙂
>we will be out of town next week so we will end up getting a little behind.>
Have fun! There are only a couple of new things being added so I don’t think it will be hard to catch up.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The concept transfer went really well here! Adding the jump was no trouble for her and she was able to do the proper serping 🙂 And she did well with the stays – I think it was smart to ask for some easy stays and mix in cookie-toss-starts in the harder position to make things easier and protect that stay behavior 🙂
You might notice that at this stage she is starting to side-swipe the target in your hand a bit… this is actually perfectly fine and part of the progression. We are looking for an in-then-out chain, so that is what you can reward: in towards the hand then out to the reward automatically. That translates nicely to the full serp (and threadle) and tells us she is ready to start fading out the target. Yay!
The next step is to get the reward to the ground on the concept transfer – an empty bowl might be the easiest way to do that but then it would be fun to try the toy on the ground after a few warm up reps with it in your hand.
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Hello!
Both of these games went really well!He had a pretty easy time with the ‘get out’ behavior! That is nice to see because a lot of young dogs struggle with the concept of moving away. Ikaika seemed to have no questions! It was very easy starting from the Cato, and still pretty easy when you added more distance and the balance of moving forward without being sent to it. Yay!
One thing to consider is using the “out” as a release so the info is more immediate, and also is a clear contrast from the “break”. The “break” can be used to indicate moving along the line with you, and the “out” can indicate the movement away from the prop.
And you can totally add in rewards for the stay on the Cato – there was some anticipating the release 🙂 So feel free to mix in lots of stay rewards as the releases gt more exciting.
Lap turn & parallel path video:
This was more of a tandem turn than a lap because you were facing the line (the lap turn has us facing the dog) but that is great because we use the tandem turns more frequently anyway. My only suggestion is to decel as he is heading into the hand cues, so he knows a turn is coming. Steady fast motion forward might make it harder to process the cues for the turn away.In future session, you can make it more of a “u-turn” rather than the 90 degree turn you had here. The tandem turn cues can pull him past the prop then turn him back towards it, so he will be coming back towards the Cato board. That will lead us into the threadle wrap foundations that are coming this week!
Parallel path – he seemed to have no questions here, well done! Yay! I scrolled back to see if you have done the parallel path concept transfer and I didn’t see it: so you can move forward to that next time. And you can also start further back and next to him, to get him ahead of you to set up the rear cross on the prop.
Great job here!
Tracy
